Facebook and Apple are having a drama about data privacy but you should pay attention to it

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If you're an Apple fan, you might have come across a piece of news about Facebook attacking Apple about ad-tracking. In fact, they bought a full-page newspaper ads column to address the issue about their policy and boy, we got ourselves some drama here. Apple also just responded but in case you missed it, here's what happened. 

From the newspaper ad, Facebook claims to be standing up to Apple and speaking up for small businesses (SMEs). They started by saying the SMEs are the core of their business but Apple's recent iOS 14 update is said to be causing limitations their business on personalized ads and reaching their customers effectively. They added more information in their blog post, accusing of iOS's App Tracking Transparency feature is all about profit, not privacy which hurts SMEs businesses and forcing them to sign up for subscriptions. 

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While the App Tracking Transparency is not fully launched yet (until 2021), Apple responded to Facebook by saying this feature is just letting Facebook giving users a choice. They also said the feature is "a simple of matter standing up for our users", you can read the full transcript below:

“We believe that this is a simple matter of standing up for our users. Users should know when their data is being collected and shared across other apps and websites — and they should have the choice to allow that or not. App Tracking Transparency in iOS 14 does not require Facebook to change its approach to tracking users and creating targeted advertising, it simply requires them giving users a choice.”

On top of that, not only Facebook has an option to give users a choice but it applies to all developers as well, including Apple (which they told 9to5mac.com). Advertising is still possible with the upcoming App Tracking Transparency feature, but giving users more control over their data which can be done in Settings -> Privacy -> Tracking. By the way, Apple also updated the App Store with a new App Privacy label where developers must disclose what data they have been collected and how it is used. 

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New App Privacy label about Facebook as seen on the Apple App Store

So that's the gist of what is happening between Apple and Facebook. With that said, you should also be careful about the information you put online because of how developers can use the data. You don't need to let the world know everything about you. Stay safe and stay tuned for more trending tech news at TechNave.com.